Math Functions

Aggregate functions operate in multiple records to provide a calculation across many records. The functions that I describe in this section operate within a single record to perform a mathematical calculation using one or more numeric expressions. Chapter 5 described the mathematical operators in detail. Because they are a prominent part of most calculations, I will first provide a brief review of these operators and then describe the available math functions.

Operators

Operators are used to combine expression elements to perform a calculation or make certain types of comparisons between expressions. While operators often work alone in a simple mathematical formula, they are also quite prevalent in many other useful formulas. Table 6-1 lists and describes the basic math operators (see Table 5-2 for an expanded version of this table).